Norton recently introduced the latest version of its anti-virus, which now supports Windows XP Pro and XP Home. The previous version of Norton AntiVirus (2001) used to make changes to your e-mail client’s settings by putting pop3.Norton.antivirus as the incoming pop3 server. This indicates that your mail was being routed through Norton’s POP3 servers when you downloaded it. Fortunately, the latest version does not make these changes and scans all incoming mail locally before they actually reach your mail client. A small envelope icon shows in your system tray whenever it scans your mail. You can scan both incoming and outgoing mail.

Another new feature in the new version is that it integrates with your Windows Explorer by adding a button in its toolbar, which allows you to do various things like, check protection status, manage your quarantine area, or scan for viruses. For this you need to have IE 5.0 (or higher) installed.

Here you can see Norton has detected a virus in a mail, even before Outlook has a chance to receive it

We installed the package on a machine running Windows XP Pro. After installation you get the option of downloading the latest virus updates, so if you have a Net connect it’s a good idea to download them. You can also do this later, using the LiveUpdate. As a part of the package you will get these updates free of cost for one year, after which you will have to pay for next year. LiveUpdate can also be configured to automatically download the updates as and when they are available, so you don’t have to worry about them.

After installation, Norton AutoProtect constantly runs in the background, protecting your computer from viruses. You can select which file types to scan, what to do when a virus is found–repair automatically, quarantine, or deny access to the file.

Another feature you can enable for AutoProtect is ‘Bloodhound’. This is a method of detecting viruses that are not yet known. It does this by analyzing the executable files and studying their structure and behavior. It also sets up simulated environments in which it loads documents and checks for macro viruses. AutoProtect can also be configured to block VB and Java scripts from executing on your system. You can also perform scans manually on the drives and folders you
want.

We tried to copy various virus-infected files from floppies to our system, which it promptly detected. We then sent a few mail with viruses in them, and even zipped them up to see if we could fool the anti-virus package. However, Norton was able to detect the virus-infected mail, even before Outlook had a chance to download it. Norton also maintains a log file, in which it records events like completion of
scans, virus detection, or script blocking activities.

Overall, Norton is an easy-to-use yet effective virus scanner, which has pretty much everything a good anti-virus solution should have. At a price of just above
Rs 2,000, it is a good deal.